Man acquitted of Daingean pub killing

A 31-year-old man was last evening acquitted of the manslaughter of Daingean publican, Matt Farrell. Eddie Wing, with a previous address at Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, had pleaded not guilty to the unlawful killing of 64-year-old Matt Farrell at the Gaelic Bar, Daingean, on April 1, 2009. He had also denied burglary at the Gaelic Bar on the same date. The main prosecution witness in the case was 'a jailhouse informant' who told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court during the trial that Eddie Wing confessed to the killing when they shared a cell in the Midlands Prison in late 2009. The court heard that during a robbery of the pub, Mr Farrell had his hands bound behind his back and suffered blunt force trauma to the head and face. The grandfather and father-of-four suffered a heart attack and was found dead by his son the next day. Gardai told the court that after his arrest Mr Wing denied ever being in the Gaelic Bar and had insisted he was with his girlfriend throughout the night of the burglary. The trial also heard that none of the DNA profiles found at the scene matched that of the accused. There was no physical evidence connecting Mr Wing to the crime and under oath Mr Wing told the court that the prison informant was lying, adding that he didn't know why. The jury were warned a number of times of the dangers associated with the evidence from so called jailhouse informants. The jury of seven men and five woman had spent just over four hours over two days considering the verdict. They were thanked for their service by Judge Patrick McCartan Members of Mr Farrell's family cried out when the verdict was read out.